Friday, March 21, 2008

Ep. 4.8 Meet Kevin Johnson

I loved this episode. I’ve only watched it once so far, but I think we learned a lot.

Ben vs. The Universe reinforced

My theory still stands, and I think this week brought more evidence -- at least in the way the game is being played. Ben has harnessed the power of the island and is trying to outfox the Universe by staying a few moves ahead of its course-correcting counter-moves (i.e. the cosmic game of chess).

Case in point: Mr. Friendly’s proof (the Widmore File)

Remember a few weeks ago when Ben had Locke open his safe and pull out a video tape with Widmore on it? Wasn’t that just a little too convenient, that this tape just happened to be sitting there in Ben’s safe at the exact moment Ben needed it? The same sort of thing happened in tonight’s episode with Michael and Mr. Friendly.

Here is what is happening:

Michael asks Mr. Friendly for proof against Widmore. Mr. Friendly’s consciousness instantly travels back in time and instructs someone to prepare a file and leave it on the table in his penthouse. His consciousness then returns to the very moment when Michael asked him for the proof and bingo, there it is on the table (you know, the way Bill and Ted were able to escape from jail just in time to give their most excellent history presentation).

This instantaneous backward-forward consciousness time-traveling can explain many things: how Ben got that video tape in his safe, how Mr. Friendly knew where Michael would be when he committed suicide (which they stopped), etc etc.

And what if Ben really did give Michael a working bomb, and Michael really did blow up the freighter, but then in one of the Universe’s counter-moves, Ben realized that the destruction of the freighter actually worked against him, so he traveled back in time, deactivated the bomb, and put a little pop-up flag saying “not yet’ for Michael.

And since ghost-Libby and ghost-Charlie seem to be working against Ben, I am sticking to my theory that they are agents of the Universe trying to free the island (and Jacob) from Ben’s malevolent grasp.

Carl Bites the Dust

Well, as a father of two girls, I say he got what was coming to him. So who shot him and Rousseau? The freighter folk. You know, the guys who were “shooting stuff” in tonight’s episode. Remember, Frank Lapidus took them off the freighter last week. So now they are on the island, hunting. And Ben knew exactly where they would be, and he sent horny Carl and expendable Rousseau right into their path – but only after he gave Alex all the information she would need to save herself. It will be interesting to see how he uses the capture of Alex against them.

Mr. Friendly

It has been speculated since he told Kate that she “was not his type.” Now it has been confirmed. Okay, so Mr. Friendly is gay. Big deal.

Taller Ghost Walt

The Walt who appeared on the island to Locke was not really Walt. It was a manifestation of the island – maybe the smoke monster – encouraging Locke to get up and get to work. But the real Walt (or at least a body-double with real Walt’s CGI-imposed face) is with his grandmother in Manhattan.

Why Jack Couldn't Jump

When a badly-bearded suicidal Jack almost threw himself off a bridge last season, a car crashed behind him. The lure of saving someone was too strong, and he avoided an untimely death. Why? Because, like we found with Michael this week, he still has work to do, and "the island" won't let him die.

And, by the way, I still think that Michael is (will be) the man in the coffin.

I know there are at least four people who will read this. So what did you guys think of this episode? Did it raise any new questions for you? Let me know.

P.S. I am working on a website dedicated to flushing out my theory. It's a work in progress. Take a look at what I have so far and let me know what you think.